Higher education such as high school and college for me has set me back in terms of what books I want to read for pleasure. Instead, throughout my years in higher education, I have to read many required readings that are dense and mandatory. In high school books such as "Romeo and Juliet," "Mice of Men," "The Catcher in the Rye," and "The Great Gatsby" are some of the most read literature in high school. Although I did love "The Great Gatsby," most students dread having to read required texts. In my opinion, having many required readings is the reason why people keep reading less each year. I hold myself accountable to this.

As a college student, reading for pleasure can be difficult when students who have to juggle classes, assignments, jobs, extracurriculars, and social life. In college, professors assign articles and textbooks that students are quizzed on which is another reason why students think reading as a chore and less for pleasure. On top of that, textbooks are very expensive which make students dread having to read. It is even worse when a professor has the reading in the syllabus as a required component in the course and it is never used!

I remember in grade school or in middle school having all the time to read for fun. Those were the good days and definitely one of my favorite parts of being a kid. Growing up I always remember reading "The Magic Treehouse" and the "Series of Unfortunate Events" series. These books and among others was where I developed my love for reading for pleasure. As soon as students enter higher education, the rigor of the course work and the more time spent on completing assignments results in students not having the time to read for fun like they did when they were kids.

Reading for pleasure can make people be more creative and make students less likely to hop on social media, but with the way the higher education is set-up, it is very hard for people to read for fun. I would love to give a special shoutout for those individuals who have managed their time and set up some time out of their busy day to read something they want to and choose to. These individuals definitely have their act together, and are getting more knowledge every day! Knowledge is power and these types of people are going places with their reading and are growing their imagination as well.